AnnMarie Hurtado and Leela PereaPasadena Public Library

Light Up Notebooks

What is electricity?

Trumbauer, Lisa. What is electricity? New York: Children’s Press, 2004.

Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

Okay, but what is all this “positive” and “negative” stuff? Why is everything (like magnets and electrical batteries) always “positive” or “negative”? Why the “charged” language?

Electricity, like magnetism, is really a matter of directionality and polarity. Electrical current flows from one pole of the battery to the other pole. We call the first pole “positive” and the other “negative.” We mark one end with a plus sign to help distinguish which side is which.

The electric current always flows from the positive end to the negative end. The electrons themselves flow in the opposite direction.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circuits/Lesson-2/Electric-Current

Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

What is electric current?It’s like a subatomic chain reaction:

Midthun, Joseph and Hiti, Samuel. Electricity. Chicago: World Book, 2012.

What is a circuit?

Berger, Melvin. Switch on, switch off. Illustrated by Carolyn Croll. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1989.

We are going to make circuits that can light up LEDs attached to paper!

Take a look at these examples for inspiration and ideas:

Let’s start simple…There are not two batteries—only one. The paper is folded over it so that one piece of tape is touching the positive side of the battery and the other piece of tape is touching the negative side.

And add a switch:

Open

And add a switch:

Closed

Want more than one LED? Don’t do this:

Why would it not work?Think of the electric current as

similar to a stream of water moving through the ground to reach the roots of trees. If there are a lot of trees planted close to each other, they will all be competing for access to the same stream of water. And the more trees you add, the less water there is to go around.

What if we have a whole orchard of trees? Will one stream be enough?

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3171380

We can water ALL the trees at the same time, if we create many streams of water all connected to the original stream, and each mini-stream has enough water for one row of trees. This is called irrigation. It’s also the same concept involved in making a complex circuit.

https://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/AntiquePlum/7164124/an_irrigated_apple_orchard_spokane_washington_wa_vintagecard/vintage/ephemera/postcardshttp://www.istockphoto.com/photos/circuit-board?excludenudity=true&sort=best&mediatype=photography&phrase=circuit%20board

For that reason, in order to have

enough electricity to

power more than one light, we will

use a parallel circuit.

Demonstration

Your design can have a parallel circuit wrapped around and around like this:

You start with your template:

Glue the sheet onto one of the pages of your notebook. Try to choose a page right BEHIND where your intended picture will be. The circuit and LED stickers won’t be seen through the paper. Only the lights themselves when they are lit will be seen.

Try to follow the gray lines with your copper tape, laying it on top of the gray lines and folding it gently back and over itself when you reach a corner, like this:

Never let two pieces of tape touch! The pieces of tape must ALWAYS run parallel to each other. One copper tape will be “negatively charged” from the negative side of the battery. Another copper tape will be “positively charged” from the positive side of the battery.

Also, be sure to leave a gap for the LED. The two stickers on either end of the LED should each lie on top of two different pieces of copper tape.

When your circuit is all laid out with copper tape, you can attach your LEDs. Always put the small, pointy end of the LED on the tape that will be “negatively” charged, or touching the negative side of the battery. Always put the large, flat side of the LED on the tape that will be “positively” charged by the positive side of the battery.

Attach the battery either with a clip or with Scotch tape. If you use Scotch tape to attach it, you will need to be careful to keep the Scotch tape away from any areas of the battery that will be touching the copper conductive tape!

You can use one of the pieces of pressure-sensitive conductive film from your bag to insulate the battery just enough that it requires pressure from your finger in order to turn on the light. You can also place this conductive film over a switch in your circuit.

Here is an example of a circuit with a switch. When you close the door, which is lined with conductive copper foil, you close the circuit and turn the window light on.

Here is another kind of switch. This one allows you to control which light turns on with a press of your finger.

Diffusing lightPlay with different lighting styles and materials!

Your LEDs can shine through small holes in the paper (left), or you can put a very thin kind of paper over them to diffuse their lights (right)

A beautiful (and advanced) example

Dandelions By Jie Qi

Four strips of peelable sticky copper tapeTwo 3V batteriesOne or two small pieces of black pressure-sensitive conductive

film for insulating a battery or a switch 4 Chibitronics sticker LEDs (of varying colors)

R = Red, B = Blue, P = Pink, O = Orange, W = White, G = Green, Y = Yellow

1 regular LED light bulb with two wires (the rounded, bent wire is the negative side and the straight wire is the positive side)

5 different templates you can use to lay down your circuit

We have some extra batteries if you need one. We have some extra tape if you need more. But due to a lack of LEDs, please restrict your designs to the LEDs you have to work with.

Your bags have…

Start creating!

Books I Used:

You can find them all at the Pasadena Public Library!

Where to find materials:I started out by buying the Beginner Classroom Kit by Lectrokit. It includes a set of LED stickers made by Chibitronics. Later, I learned I could get more LED stickers in various colors on Amazon.

The kit did not come with the pressure sensitive conductive film which is so useful for designing working buttons and insulating batteries from overuse. I ended up finding that out and buying it from Adafruit Accessories on Amazon.

I bought the notebooks on Amazon too: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K3WM872/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016PYHU5C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Where to find ideas and inspiration:

I first learned about light-up notebooks from an article in School Library Journal: http://www.slj.com/2015/04/technology/hack-your-notebook-circuitry-mixes-with-paper-in-a-creative-project-for-21st-century-learners/

You’ll also find good ideas here:

http://tinkering.exploratorium.edu/paper-circuits

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/the-great-big-guide-to-paper-circuits

http://www.nexmap.org/educator-resources